Selective Laser Melting is a relatively well known and modern method of creating parts and components from powder material. A machine used together with this method comprises a table or building platform on which the part is built. Layer by layer after the leading of a layer of powder which is molten by a laser beam. The layer thickness is created by a scraper that moves over the powder bed. One major requirement for the functionality of the machine is that the object does not contain any obstacle sticking out upwards from the powder bed. This implies that only part with a flat upper surface can be used. This is generally no problem when parts are built from “scratch” but any application including repairing of existing objects will need a preceding operation where the object is machined in such a way that the top surface is flat.
The selective laser melting in its current known form is limited to planar horizontal surfaces and where the component can be retracted downward for each sintered layer.
There are a number of processes available for depositing material to components by sintering metallic powder by laser. These methods varies slightly and can be divided into laser cladding, where powder is fed to the melting area and melted by a laser beam that can move in multiple axis and Laser Sintering where the powder is resident in a powder bed and the laser beam is oriented top down.
Laser cladding has a low yield in terms of supplied powder and the deposit rate on the substrate is limited.